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Category Archives: The joys of Austin

When John and I were house hunting and considering the house we live in now, we were pleased that we’d still be within Austin — address and city limits. But the longer we live here, the more I realize that I’d be just as proud to call Cedar Park or Round Rock home. Both cities have impressive libraries and programs, and the city parks they have developed recently and the Brushy Creek Regional Trail are amazing.

Today, the girls and I visited Round Rock’s newest park — Play for All — a park designed with accommodations for children with special needs that is super fun for kids of all abilities.

We spent about an hour and a half there (and the girls certainly would have played longer had time allowed). It’s only been open since this weekend, so it was pretty full and I heard comments of amazement from every adult I made eye contact with.

We started at a play pod with a seated merry-go-round, a water-play area, and some kind of rolling conveyer belt-like thing. You climbed onto it and could hold on to bars overhead while you sat bars that rolled. The girls quickly spotted the swings and headed there. They tried out the sensory swings that cocoon you in well and can swing or spin. Then they tried the regular swings, too. There is also a small gated area with a wheelchair accessible swing. After swinging, they made a quick pass through one of the two playscapes (which had quite a variety of activities) before spotting Brushy Creek Village — a child-sized town that includes a school, a library, a fire station, HEB, a Maxwell car dealership, Seton Hospital, a Wag-a-Bag, and a house. It’s a nice little city block complete with stop lights and walk signals. We returned to the city after we explored the rest of the park. There’s a nice sand play area, a musical play area, a more woody-type play area, and several cool features. The park will eventually connect with Brushy Creek Regional Trail which runs near our house.

We took a bat cruise tonight with the Boatners and the Marshes and enjoyed a perfect night in Austin — dinner at Threadgills and a beautiful sunset cruise on Town Lake to see the bats who abide under the Congress Bridge. The bridge is home to about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats who are kind enough to rid Austin of 10,000-20,000 pounds of insects each night. John captured this image. Beautiful!